Dustin Brown shocks Nikolay Davydenko in opening round – Mercedes Cup 2012
Local wildcard entrant, Dustin Brown, upset the sixth seed, Nikolay Davydenko from Russia, in a three-set see-saw match at the Mercedes Cup 2012 on Monday. He formulated a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(7) victory against the Russian to secure a spot in the pre-quarter round
at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event held in Stuttgart, Germany.
The local contender displayed top class performance and after saving match point, he jolted down Davydenko in their first outing. After earning the limelight in two hours and four minutes, Brown convincingly advanced into the second round at the Tennis Club
Weissenhof.
“I'm happy that I won the first round. Nikolay is a great player,” Brown was quoted in a courtside interview. “He was very solid from the back and returns well. I tried to play my game as best as I could, trying to be aggressive and not getting into too
many rallies. I'm very happy I got through today, as the last time I played here I lost 7-6 in the third to Gilles Simon. On the match point that I saved, he hit a good serve and I hit a good return.”
Brown made quick in-roads and after breaking his rival’s serve early on, he jumped to a 3-2 lead. Despite failing to block the lone breakpoint he faced in the eighth game, the German remained calm and carved out the opener with a 7-5 success after cashing
in his second break chance in the end.
The seed rebounded in the following set and after brushing off both breakpoints he faced, Davydenko swiped his entire serves. He capitalised on one out of three break chances and pulled out the equaliser by winning six games to three.
Ranked 150th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Brown sought his rhythm again in the final set. He got the coveted break in the third game but lost the following three games in a row. The German faced a match point at 4-5 40-30
but through his exceptional skills, he dug his way back in the game and subsequently recovered in the 10th game. Brown then not only dragged the set to a tie-breaker but dominated in it, eventually clinching the decider with a 7-6(7) score line.
Overall, the local challenger spilled nine double faults but fired 13 massive aces to prevail in the match.
Next in queue for the wildcard is the conqueror of the match between Philipp Petzschner and the French contestant, Benoit Paire.
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